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Post subject: Squire Quality
Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2009 9:00 pm
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How are the Squires? I'm no snob or anything, but I like to see "Fender" on the headstock. However, the economy being what it is, I'm thinking about picking up a Squire Jazz at a local pawn shop, and I was wondering how they compare to the "real thing".

Any and all input is welcome. Thanks.


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Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2009 7:33 am
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A name's worth usually is in the quality and reputation, Squiers came during the Made In Japan was kinda a hush hush thing, you'd rather have a Made in the USA in the '80s. Climate of that has changed so much...Squiers went thru the years of being the "junk" brand. This has changed, even the Crafted in China - Vibe series has such a great quality now. The 2 Squiers I have are Crafted in Indonesia, and I can't believe how well they're put together. How well the Jazz Bass sound that comes out of the VM - granted they're Duncan Design pups. Fender of any origin will always have the Fender cache, but if you get certain Squiers, some have better quality (generally speaking now - sorry) than MIM Fenders. Understand tho, some MIM, CIJ Fenders have better quality than MIA, not generally, but some do. Comparing to the real thing, Squiers are the real deal, just not made in the US (MIA) to cut labor cost, and supposedly have inferior quality. I've had MIA basses, MIM, Korean made, still play MIJ. Out of all the Fenders I've had, 3 MIA's actually had quality issues that were covered under warranty (bad jack, pick up weren't working, bad frets)...not a biggie like I said due to the warranty covering the issues.

...and here is my disclaimer, these are all just my opinion, so if someone disagree, oh well...Welcome to the Forums by the way BMerriam!!

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Post subject: SQUIER
Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2009 11:45 am
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Generally I would avoid buying a Squier Bass at all cost. The only way I would buy one would be if I could pick it up in person and examine it and play it. From looks alone in pictures it does seem that the crafted in Indonesia Basses look pretty good, they seem to have the hot looking Basses in the Squier line. But I have a Crafted in China and the quality is just horrible. The pickguard is thin and has a crack next to a screw hole. The finish seems rather thin. The tuners are so skinny they have to use bass strings that are extra thin at the tuner end so they will be able to properly wrap around the tuner. One of the split pickups died because of a break in the thin wire in the winding and can't be fixed. The neck is straight but when you look at it and the frets "cheap", or "junk" are the words you think of. Quality isn't in the picture.

I saw an excellent Bass made with aftermarket parts that sold for $399.00 including a hardshell case. There are all kinds of basses out there, even Fenders at many different price points. You should go to a bunch of music stores and try as many different basses as possible, made in mexico, made in the USA, etc.


Last edited by mikecain on Sun Jun 21, 2009 12:47 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2009 12:17 pm
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I've seen those Squiers before...not the new ones out now tho. Neither one of mine are like that, hence me buying them. I for one can't believe the quality I've seen out of Squier basses. But, I'm no online shopper either. I go to the local music store and support my local economy. I've bought things online, if I can't find it locally. Back to the Squiers tho, the ones I've seen for sale in the music shop are good quality. I'll put mine up against most MIM and wouldn't walk away in shame. They're that good. Maybe the qc uniformed from the factory. The Vibe JB I played with was as good a bass as my VM or the Active V of mine.

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'89 Power Jazz Bass Special-BadAssIII, EMG P/J
Project PBass-EMG PX, Schaller BM Light Tuner
'05 Aerodyne JBass
'06 Spector Legend Custom Neck Through
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Hartke TA5000 w/XL Cabs(210, 410, 115)


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Post subject: Local Music Store
Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2009 1:05 pm
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I live in the sticks and we don't have a local music store. The nearby town that has one I wouldn't go there if you paid me. The salesman had the attitude like record stores used to have. If you didn't look hip or cool they treated you like garbage. The salesman was making a personal phone call and couldn't be bothered enough to ask the person to hold on long enough just to say he would be right with me. I waited as he talked on the telephone he couldn't have cared any less.

I only paid $55 for the Squire Affinity P Bass. Even at that price I feel the Bass wasn't worth it. I read that Indonesian Basses were poor quality at one time. Do you know what year Squiers started being made better? It must have been within the last two years.


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Post subject:
Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2009 4:47 pm
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From the varied responses, I'm guessing Squires are going to be like anything else: try one and see. Everyone puts out crap sometimes. Thanks for all your time.


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Post subject: Re: Local Music Store
Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2009 6:53 pm
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mikecain wrote:
I live in the sticks and we don't have a local music store. The nearby town that has one I wouldn't go there if you paid me. The salesman had the attitude like record stores used to have. If you didn't look hip or cool they treated you like garbage. The salesman was making a personal phone call and couldn't be bothered enough to ask the person to hold on long enough just to say he would be right with me. I waited as he talked on the telephone he couldn't have cared any less.

I only paid $55 for the Squire Affinity P Bass. Even at that price I feel the Bass wasn't worth it. I read that Indonesian Basses were poor quality at one time. Do you know what year Squiers started being made better? It must have been within the last two years.


I hear you on the attitude, the only shop in a 100 mi radius, if you don't like it go somewhere else attitude...that blows.

I would say since the '00 they've been getting better, even the Chinese ones which at one point I wouldn't buy has gotten better. Zod has a Affinity P bass, he's surprised on how well made it is.

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Rez(# 30916)
'89 Power Jazz Bass Special-BadAssIII, EMG P/J
Project PBass-EMG PX, Schaller BM Light Tuner
'05 Aerodyne JBass
'06 Spector Legend Custom Neck Through
VT Bass
Hartke TA5000 w/XL Cabs(210, 410, 115)


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Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2009 6:56 pm
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BMerriam wrote:
From the varied responses, I'm guessing Squires are going to be like anything else: try one and see. Everyone puts out crap sometimes. Thanks for all your time.


Anytime BMerriam.

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Rez(# 30916)
'89 Power Jazz Bass Special-BadAssIII, EMG P/J
Project PBass-EMG PX, Schaller BM Light Tuner
'05 Aerodyne JBass
'06 Spector Legend Custom Neck Through
VT Bass
Hartke TA5000 w/XL Cabs(210, 410, 115)


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Post subject:
Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 10:10 am
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I have some tips to Avoid a poor quality Squier:

1. Avoid by all means to buy affinity models. Affinity are not good at all, just go straight for the Standards.
2. Check out where it was crafted or made. If it is made in/or crafted in China just run out. Don't buy it.
3. All the time check the frets from 12 fret and ahead.
4. Take some minutes to play it, even the Vintage Modified has quality issues.

The problem with Squier is the quality standards, you can find a really good bass that was made just after one that is terrible. So my main advice is to play the bass before to buy it.
If there is no option to test it, take the risk and check the reviews on the website you are going to buy it. :(

Sad but True!

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Post subject:
Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 6:17 pm
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My overall experience with Squire is very hit or miss quality. I tried a few Squire Teles (for instance) at a GC back around Easter and found only one of 5 reasonably playable and with (by eye) decent construction.

On the other hand, I found a Squire J-bass in the same store last year that was at least as good in quality and playability as an MIM Fender sitting right next to it. I do allow for setup in these comments, realizing that even the best models usually need pro setup once you get them.

I have an 84 MIJ Squire P-bass that's one of my main basses ... very nicely constructed and of course 25 years old! I also recently got a Squire Tele that's decent though not quite up to HWY1/MIA Fender standards.

So my overall conclusion is that you can certainly get some very good Squire deals, but no real out for trying what you're considering. If you can't, perhaps consider some kind of warranty with the seller where he'll take it back if an independent tech says it's in bad shape and/or would be difficult to make playable.


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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 2:12 pm
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I'm on my 3rd Squier:

1. Stop Dreaming, Start Playing Pak. I don't know if it sucked, becuase i didn't know jack squat about Bass guitars.

2. Vintage Modified P. After listening to all the buzz on the various websites, I traded in my Squier Affinity for this bass. It looked incredible. Because I was only 2 months into playing, it didn't sound incredible. Traded it in for a MIM J-Bass.

3. After 2 years of solid practice, I finally realized that good bass player is a combination of the player and the equipment they use. Because I love the Motown sound, I decided to get a P-Bass. After deliberating for about 3 weeks, I bought the Vintage Modified P Bass. To bring it up to my taste, I shielded the P/U and control cavities and changed the stock pickguard screws for black pickguard screws. I love this bass! I haven't shopped for a bass in 6 months.

Moral of the story: I bet there are millions of stories about how someone was really satisfied with a particular brand of bass that others thought were inferior. You can spend your time defending the reasons why you picked a certain bass over another OR you can let your fingers do the talking


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Post subject:
Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 7:10 pm
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Squire basses and guitar QC has been up and down over the years. My first bass was a Squire Bullet Bass (bought in 1987) which was a 32 inch scale p-bass. Overall not a bad bass however my 2008 VM Jazz blows it out of the water as far as constuction and sound go. Squire is a hit or miss guitar/bass company what else can I say. That said the VM series and the VC series can be argued to be the best line of guitars and basses produced to date.


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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:38 pm
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I have a 70's Vintage Modified Jazz Bass. Before I bought it I played six others at four different stores. Every one I played I liked, I'm completely satisfied with it. For the money it's great, it's not a American standard as far a finis goes but for sound and playability it doe's all I ask it to.

Point is, play before you buy.


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Post subject:
Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 4:25 pm
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I have 5 Basses 1 of which is a Fender HWY1 Jazz, a 1980 Vantage VS600B that I picked up yesterday for $300 Australian dollars. Bargain and the other 3 being Squier's; An Affinity P-bass with EMG's and a Badass III and the other two being a Vintage Modified P-Bass and Jazz Bass. The Affinity Quite frankly is built like crap. It looks good but feels as if it could break at any moment. I picked up my VM's and was astounded at how good they are. My VM Jazz I consider to be just as good as my HWY1 and I even think the Duncan designed pickups are better then the Fenders. And the P-Bass is great too. They are great workhorse basses. And you can never go wrong with them. If you pick up especially the Jazz Bass for the price you can't go wrong.


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Post subject:
Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 4:41 pm
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JazzBass1990 wrote:
I have 5 Basses 1 of which is a Fender HWY1 Jazz, a 1980 Vantage VS600B that I picked up yesterday for $300 Australian dollars. Bargain and the other 3 being Squier's; An Affinity P-bass with EMG's and a Badass III and the other two being a Vintage Modified P-Bass and Jazz Bass. The Affinity Quite frankly is built like crap. It looks good but feels as if it could break at any moment. I picked up my VM's and was astounded at how good they are. My VM Jazz I consider to be just as good as my HWY1 and I even think the Duncan designed pickups are better then the Fenders. And the P-Bass is great too. They are great workhorse basses. And you can never go wrong with them. If you pick up especially the Jazz Bass for the price you can't go wrong.


+1 about the VM Jazz.


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